Robert Sanzalone

Even though I’m in the eye of the storm for the Olympics, last night was the first time I truly participated in ANYTHING to do with these events. I chose to participate in the 2010 Olympic Torch Community Celebration in Richmond, Canada.

These festivities, and the remainder to be held during the games, are in Minoru Park, the centre of the municipality. The area has been designated the O Zone, complete with venue facilities and a grand main stage.

Entry into the park was relatively easy and orderly. Admission was free and security felt much more like entering a night club or concert than it did looking for nasties wanting to do something heavier than sneaking a can of beer into the grounds.

Once in, you were immediately hit with the objective of the grounds… one big red maple leaf self-hug. Though the demographics of Richmond are mostly Asian, the majority of the participants were not. It truly was a mixed crowd of both locals and international well wishers wanting to take part in the party to bring in the torch.

Other than a faux pas of calling the venue “Surrey” by the host at one point (to boos in the crowd) and an instrument malfunction for the Delhi 2 Dublin band (which cost 10 minutes of uncomfortable stage silence for the 15,000+ crowd), the evening was fun, fast paced and lively. I truly enjoyed myself, even after getting “bonked” on the head by a rogue Coca-cola crowd beach ball.

The climax of the evening was suppose to be Rick Hansen ride up the stage and lighting the Olympic cauldron. Though it was a wonderful moment, the real fun came in the exit to follow – an absolute disaster. Imagine 15,000 people with children or elderly parents elbowing each other to squeeze through 4 double door exits at the same time. I never felt ANYTHING so chaotic and uncomfortable, even on a Tokyo train in a morning rush hour (which I have experienced many times). Where was the crowd control? Where were the police? The RCMP? I was amazed to see far, far fewer of them than I did when the event started. One middle-aged woman was in tears and obvious discomfort as she sat on the curb outside the door immediately after the squeeze out – her partner comforting her as best he could.

If the exits continue through the Olympics as they did last night, I would suggest to stay away from the O zone if you have smaller children or elderly members of the family. Or at least come and go at the non-peak time to avoid any issues.

To the O zone Richmond organizers – thanks very much for the free party. You did do a great job and I did enjoy myself up to the end. Just clean up that last bit of organizing to avoid any further more serious problems. Please.

Other shots in the area:

Technorati Tags: crowd, crowd control, o zone, olympics, relay, richmond, richmond o zone, rick hansen, torch, van2010